The Story of My Life and Little Lord Fauntleroy

As I continue to teach our daughters about heroic american women, I feel that Helen Keller is one woman whose life we must study and learn about. In preparation for teaching the girls about Helen Keller, I read her biography, The Story of My Life. It was Brilliant. She truly was one of a kind. I love her spirit, it reminds me of Clarissa. Clarissa does not do anything that she does not want to do. My challenge in life is to help her understand why she would want to do the things I am asking of her. I feel like I learned so much about both teaching and parenting by reading Hellen Keller's story of how Anne Sullivan helped her to see the world. I would recommend that all parents and teachers should read about the life of both of these women and their journey together. Although I knew the basic story of how Helen, being both blind and deaf, overcame her trials, I did not realize that she also became an advocate for all underprivledged persons, especially those with handicaps. I was pleased to learn about her efforts in Japan working with children in that country. Krystal actually ended up using the life of Helen Keller as a project for our history group study on the Civil Rights.

Another pleasing thing that came from reading this book is that Helen mentioned several times in the book how much she enjoyed the story of Little Lord Fauntleroy. That got me curious and as I love the Secret Garden is wasn't hard to believe I might enjoy another of Frances Hodgson Burnett's novels. And indeed I did. It was a truly delightful story full of hope and very fairytale like. I will definately recommend this classic to my children to read.

Hans Brinker or The Silver Skates

Our most recent read-aloud was Hans Brinker, or the Silver Skates by Mary Mapes Dodge. It was a long read, but a welcome distraction to the dreary weather outside. We all enjoyed the two intertwined story lines, but would have preferred a little less Dutch history. We especially liked the characters of Hans Brinker, Peter Van Mounen, and Jacob Poot. This book is full of heroic values as Hans is faced with many difficult decisions of moral magnitude.